The end of a fun trip..

Well I missed blogging the last few days of our vacation...On Friday we took an all day sailboat ride on the "Wayward Sailor" with Captain Phil. He took us to "Christmas Cove" to snorkel...(note: I found this video online.. it was shot where we went snorkeling- you may want to turn to volume down if christian country isn't your cup of tea!) We saw lots of cool fish, and even a couple of octopus, lots of squid, a moral eel, a huge stingray, a single jelly fish and a sea turtle!...It was great (even if I forgot to put sunscreen on my back..ouch). (Grace with her snorkeling certificate)
Saturday was a busy day.. We headed back to the Donkey Diner for a final breakfast (omelettes, pancakes).. and on the way down the hill into Coral Bay we came across some donkeys on the side of the road. We had been driving around with a bag of carrots for the donkeys so we pulled off to the side and fed them.. boy were they excited! (note: the locals don't want you to feed the donkeys because they say it makes them aggressive, but how can you resist? they are too cute!) Our breakfast was delicious.. I even read in the local paper that the Donkey Diner is for sale.. hmmm..food for thought ;)
Afterwards we had to vacuum out the Jeep as the rental company wanted it returned sans sand!? Luckily Jan let us use her vacuum because they don't have car wash places with industrial vacuums like we have in the states.. We loaded up our stuff and headed into Cruz Bay to catch the 1:15 ferry to St. Thomas (pic of Grace taking a nap while waiting for the ferry). When we got to Charlotte Amalie we decided to hoof it up the hill will all our stuff (to save a $20 cab fare) and checked back into the Bunker Hill Hotel.. This time they put us on the TOP floor.. (note- no elevators.. LOTS of heavy bags).. by the time we got to our room we were hot and sweaty.. We cranked the AC and headed out to explore St. Thomas. I had promised Grace a trip to The Butterfly Farm which is near the cruise ship dock (at least 30 min walk) and Becky headed out to shop (and convince herself she didn't need a $2000 watch).. We made it to the Butterfly farm in time for the last 'tour'.. and Grace LOVED it.. it was pretty cool. Even I learned a lot about butterflies. Like, they spend most of their time drunk. (really!) Grace will tell you that "Butterflies eat rotten bananas"..

We took a cab back into town (since the walk there was equivalent to what my sister would call "A Death March"..) and met back up with Becky at the hotel. Our cab driver was a true Rastafarian and Grace asked "Why is he wearing that funny hat?" We ate authentic Caribbean food at Cuzzins for our last meal together on vacation.. and we drank "Painkillers" (I should have been drinking these instead of Pina Coladas the whole time..yummy)..Then we all fell asleep before 10. Becky had an early flight out on Sunday.. Grace and I had time to eat the free breakfast at the hotel- we even saw Becky's plane take off over the bay. And while we were waiting for our taxi we finally spotted an Iguana right across the street from the hotel!.. At the airport we ran into Park Ranger Laurel and her 3 yr old son Dennis. The kids watched some "Max and Lucy" on their DVD player.. Our long day of flying was unremarkable (thank goodness).. We flew to JFK, then had a 2 hour layover, and flew to LAX.. We got on the airport shuttle to the Embassy Suites, checked in about 11:15pm (3:15AM St. Thomas time).. and crashed on their pillow-top bed..(after we ordered room service- PB&J and cookies and milk..).. At 5AM Grace woke up realizing she forgot to put her pull-up on.. luckily she hadn't wet the bed.. and the phone rang (wrong number).. So then we were up and although I tried to get her to sleep a little bit longer, jet lag prevailed.. We enjoyed the complimentary breakfast and hung out in the hot tub before heading back to LAX, and finally made it back home safely last night..

Thursday in St. John

Day 8

We got off to an early start today- had to set the alarm to wake up in time to get Becky to Cruz Bay for her 7AM dive trip departure (to see the wreck of the R.M.S. Rhone). There was a beautiful sunrise from Luna Vista. After we dropped Becky off Grace and I set off to find a place for breakfast in Cruz Bay. We ended up at Mojo's Cafe and had french toast and scrambled eggs. We were visited by a cute young golden retriever named Cooper- we fed him the crust of our toast. Afterwards we went to a mini mart and bought some laundry detergent and went in search of a laundromat (we were told it was behind 'fashion palace'!). After we circled around the block twice we found parking and started two loads of laundry. While our laundry was doing it's thing we walked to the Starfish Market and bought Grace some Pediasure a.k.a. 'Milky' (at the beginning of the trip she said she didn't need any more milky.. but now she has changed her mind) and some juice boxes. Then we walked up the street and discovered the animal shelter. We went inside and were greeted by about 20 cats of varying ages- mostly young thin black cats, and most of them with herpes conjunctivitis. They were very friendly and playful and if we could we would have taken some home. Grace had fun playing with them even though their little claws were getting caught in the fabric of her new dress and snagging it.. When the laundry was finished we went to the post office for postcard stamps and did a little shopping.. We bought handmade soaps, bath salts, jams, and presents for Grace's cousins, Savannah and Maddie. At this point I was shopped out so we hopped back in the Jeep and went for a ride. We headed out towards the Westin and looked for 'Chocolate Hole' but unfortunately we didn't find it. This was my first day getting to drive the Jeep since Becky was out on a dive- pretty fun trying to remember to stay on the left side on the windy hilly roads..Ultimately we ended up at Hawksnest Bay for a few hours of beach time before we had to pick up Becky again. There were bigger 'waves' than at the other beaches but Grace had fun trying to body surf where the waves crashed on the shore. Later we walked to the visitor center of the National Park and ran into our ranger Laurel. Her son was being dropped off after daycare and Grace got to play at the adjacent playground with him and a few other kids. Then we walked across the street to Margarita Phils for (expensive) Mexican food and $15 fishbowl margaritas.. I got conch and shrimp fajitas and Becky ordered her standard chicken quesadilla. (no, we didn't let Grace drink any of the margarita.. we just thought it would make a funny pic!)
We are now watching 'Father of the Bride' and plan to call it an early night. Tomorrow we go on a sailboat ride with Captain Phil, the wayward sailor.. Should be a great way to cap off our week in St. John!

Nature hike and history lesson

Day 7
Wednesday November 19th, 2008

Grace and I started our day on a beach walk with a National Park guide in Leinster bay. There were only two other people on the walk- we waded in the sea grass gardens along the shore and we found sea stars, urchins, anemones, conch, puffer fish and we even had a stingray swim by! At one point we were wading in thigh-high water- which for Grace meant up to her belly- but she was a trooper and didn't mind that her dress got wet (I know, I should have put her in a suit)..

After we finished our walk we checked out the Annaberg sugar mill ruins. The Annaberg sugar mill ruins are part of the Virgin Islands National Park. The sugar mill was built between 1797-1805- and the sugar was used to make rum and molasses. They had a woman demonstrating how to cook traditional Dumb Bread. We got to sample the bread and also got to sample fresh sugar cane (we were instructed to "chew but don't swallow").

Then it started raining so our original plans for the beach had to be changed.. Becky picked us up -luckily she came for us early since we were getting wet and were told by a different park employee that we shouldn't be standing under the trees in the rain because they drip caustic substances that would cause a skin rash).

So we went and had a bite to eat at Skinny Legs (yes, there's been a bit of eating on this trip!)- Becky had chili, I ordered a BLT, and Grace had a hotdog but it turned out she wasn't really hungry (typical). Then I bought her a new pink dress that has palm trees painted on it and I got a t-shirt with a donkey on it that says 'Bad' (get it? they also have shirts with donkeys that say 'Nice', 'Phat' and 'Smart'). We chilled out at the house for a bit, then the sun came out again. We went back to Maho Bay and watched the pelicans diving for their dinner, and Becky swam with Grace while I was bit by tiny 'no see ems'. Then we headed to the 'Donkey Diner' for wood-fired pizza- they only make pizza twice a week so we have been looking forward to it all week. We shared a pineapple/pepperoni pizza and ate 'donkey balls' and listened to 80's music. Definitely a fun place with good atmosphere and great food. I let Grace drink the smallest amount of regular Coke and now she is on a sugar high! On the drive home we drove past 5 wild donkeys grazing along Centerline road, not too far from our villa.
Tomorrow we had planned to take the Reef Bay Trail Hike while Becky goes scuba diving but because of the rain I decided to cancel it- they say it's not the best hike for kids- it's 3 miles, all downhill.. I started imagining slick steep muddy trails and a miserable 'almost 5' year old. So instead we will have the day to do laundry, mail postcards and check out the playground at the Westin (a tip from Laurel our Ranger guide)..Grace will like that better I think. She also told us there are quite a few iguana hanging out at the Westin..we are still looking for that elusive iguana!

Happy Birthday to Me

Well it's finally here.. November 18th... the day I've been anticipating and dreading all year.. hard to believe that I am 39 years old today.. But I guess I just need to accept it. My plan to be far away from reality on my birthday has cushioned the blow a bit.. You can't be stressed out in St. John. If you've never been here you really should go..it's amazing. Beautiful, relaxing, tropical paradise.. I wanted to go for breakfast today at the 'Donkey Diner' but Bruce told us they were closed on Tuesdays.. he recommended that we go to the 'Big Belly Deli' instead.. And it was delicious.. We had french toast, bacon, scrambled eggs and toast (with Diet Coke of course).. And the restaurant was right next to two art galleries.. Inside one I found a birthday gift to myself- a little painting by a local artist (Liz Ford)- it's a painting of the water and mangroves.. And it will remind me of this trip. I told Becky that I don't buy jewelry/watches (which is what most people do in St. Thomas) or expensive bags/shoes/clothes.. but I do like art. And finding a special piece of art as a memory of my travels makes me happy..
After breakfast we made our way to Lameshur Bay- a beach that the locals like- on the tourist map the road to the bay says 'no rental cars'- I think they do that to discourage tourists from going.. Anyhow it was just beautiful- like our own private Blue Lagoon. We saw big angel fish, swam and snorkeled, and sunbathed (well I didn't because I am still burned).. We even saw a mongoose cross the road. Afterwards we made dinner reservations at Miss Lucy's, met some 'wild' goats and had conch fritters and coladas at 'Shipwreck Landing'. Now it's almost time to get ready for birthday dinner!

Another day in St. John

Well today has been kind of a lazy day for me.. the sunburn is definitely a downer.. The latest catastrophe was discovering that Grace's snorkel mask was AWOL.. big bummer. Since of course it was brand new, and it wasn't cheap..and she just got excited about learning to snorkel! So our first stop was back to Trunk Bay where we asked if anyone turned it in to Lost & Found (of course not) and retraced our steps but, alas, the mask was gone.. We must have dropped it somewhere between the beach and the Jeep. So Grace was sad and I was mad (I hate losing things)..We remedied the situation by SHOPPING! We found a shop that sold snorkel gear, a nice woman named Gladys helped us out (she was charmed by Grace) and gave us a 10% discount.. Even though it's not the exact shade of pink (Grace told her "My mask is DARK pink") it's otherwise perfect and Grace is at the beach right now with Becky trying it out. I also found a new Dakine bag (hey, it's my birthday tomorrow) and some cool T-shirts for some of our favorite kids back home and a Billabong dress for Grace.. Then we headed to the Beach Bar for lunch- a very healthy plate of nachos and two frozen cocktails...Then I got a stomachache.(hmm, wonder why?) Becky paid for her scuba trip on Thursday at the dive shop and we headed back home. Grace and I hung out (she watched Cinderella) back at the villa, while Becky got some alone time at the beach..Then Becky came back and picked up Grace so she could get some beach time in (the girl is a water baby that's for sure!).. Not sure where dinner will be tonight.. or what I am going to do tomorrow for my birthday...pondering the options...

Escaping Reality

Forgive me for being a fair-weather blogger.. My regular life is nothing but work, sleep, work, sleep... And I am not as clever as my sister in making the mundane interesting and entertaining.. But now we are on our long-awaited vacation which is far from boring (and there are fun pictures to share as well!).

DAY 1
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 13TH, 2008

I worked the 5 nights prior to our departure and stayed up packing until 3am (with our ride to the airport coming at 5am)..But somehow I manage to get by on not enough sleep these days. We took an early flight to LAX, rented a car (a white convertible PT cruiser) and drove to Santa Monica to meet our friend Lindsey. (I will leave out the part where I forgot to get Grace's booster seat and had to drive back to the airport and get it..dumb). It was awesome to see Lindsey who is 8 months pregnant with Baby Hunter..We had lunch on the Santa Monica pier (Mexican food) then fed the seagulls french fries on the beach while Grace chased the waves.. Lindsey let me take pictures of her beautiful tattooed baby bump.. Then we went in search for a place to get our nails done (something I meant to do before I left but didn't have enough time). We tried walking around for a while and didn't find a place.. a taxi turned us down (no carseat)..so we got into our cars and headed towards the promenade. We saw a nail place that happily took care of the three of us- manicures, pedicures, parrafin, shoulder/arm/leg massages..
and we finished off our perfect day with sushi for dinner.. Then it back to LAX for Grace and I.. I thought I'd left enough time but when we got back to the airport it was crowded and busy.. we had to park in the parking garage, go inside and check our bags.. then go return the rental car.. There was a huge traffic jam getting out of the parking garage then I got lost finding the rental car place.. Then we had to wait for the shuttle to take us back to the airport, get through security and board the plane (which was already boarding by the time we got to the gate!).. Whew. I was hoping I'd be able to sleep on the night flight to Miami.. but, alas.. it was quite turbulent and that always makes me convinced the plane is going to rattle apart or go down.. I didn't have anything to drink (or wash a valium down with) so I put on the ipod, listened to Kimya Dawson and organized photos on my laptop. Luckily, Grace slept quite well all night.

DAY 2
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 14TH, 2008

We landed in Miami at the crack of dawn and had 5 hours to kill before our plane to St. Thomas. All I wanted was a nap but they purposely make the chairs in airports impossible to nap in.. We found a life-size model of a giraffe (an ad for the zoo) and discovered two little birds that actually live in the airport by the giraffe. We fed them some croissant, and watched them for a while.. then we went in front of a TV where we met a nice woman named Beth on her way to Cancun (with just as much time to kill)..chatted with her for a bit.. then it was finally time to get on our plane..
I fell asleep on the flight to St. Thomas...we were delayed due to some sort of maintenance thing (of course).. and I don't even remember taking off.. Grace spilled her apple juice all over.. (oops). then she had to take a nap.. We arrived in St. Thomas and a nice man helped us with our many bags (for a fee). Unfortunately Grace's carseat was SOAKED and broken.. (there was a huge squall/downfall shortly after we landed and I think the carseat was sitting on the tarmac).. We got on a taxi (a van shared with 7 other people) and finally arrived at our hotel in Charlotte Amalie- the Bunker Hill Hotel. We lugged our bags up many steps to our room (for a 'budget' hotel it was a lot nicer than I expected it to be). Grace, of course, wanted to go in the pool right away.. then we went and got some food at the Green House- they were having 2 for 1 drinks- (can you say Pina Colada?)- and we ate lobster and shrimp cocktail.. yum.. Back at the hotel I passed out until Becky arrived around 11pm. She immediately went out to find us some Diet Coke but sadly, there was none to be found so we all just went to bed.

DAY 3
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 15TH, 2008

The next day we slept in (missed the free breakfast), packed up our stuff, headed into town where Grace got beads in her hair at the open air market (I don't have photos of this because I had tripped on the steps at the hotel, banged the camera and thought I broke it. Later I discovered that it was on the wrong setting and it wasn't actually broken- THANK GOD), then we had lunch back at the Green House (Jamaican Jerk chicken and mango salad, shrimp cocktail and popcorn shrimp) before getting a taxi to the St. John Ferry.. The ferry ride was a bit choppy but pretty (it takes about 40 minutes). Once on St. John we picked up our rental jeep and we were off to find our villa- Luna Vista. They drive on the left in the Virgin Islands and the roads are very windy and steep. Luckily for me Becky volunteered to be the driver. We stopped at a grocery store and loaded up on snacks (and Diet Coke and rum) and followed the directions to Luna Vista. We found it- there is a steep muddy drive and an extremely sharp (impossible) turn to get to their driveway. I must say, this place was definitely worth waiting for (www.mylunavista.com). The couple who built it used to live in our neck of the woods and the wife is a veterinarian. She still practices veterinary medicine down here a couple days a week. The rental is the bottom floor of their house (they live upstairs) with beautiful red tile floors, ceiling fans, porch with incredible views of Coral Bay, flat screen tv and two big bedrooms, lots of tropical art and a modern kitchen. They even have 600 DVD's to choose from. Their pets like to visit the guests- especially Frankie- a longhair dachshund who is sweet as can be, and Barney who is a handsome Corgi-X. They have 3 cats- One-Eye Jack, B.B. and PorkChop. After we said Hello, and unloaded all our stuff we set out to the closest beach, Maho Bay. Here we swam and found conch shells and watched Pelicans dive down and come up with mouthfuls of fish. When the sun was setting we went and had dinner at 'Skinny Legs'- we had bleu cheese burgers and coladas.. When we got back home I tried to stay up to watch a movie but passed out by 9pm..Grace spent at least an hour on the patio catching bugs- beetles, grasshoppers and other large flying insects.. She has yet to catch a gecko but she can spot them..

DAY 4
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 16th, 2008
I woke up early today (I don't seem to have jet lag probably because my time clock is already screwed up from having a backwards schedule) and struggled to get the computer connected to the network (it had been 2 days since I checked my email).. I got on but then was cut off.. We had breakfast (I went to eat a donut hole and moments before it entered my mouth I saw some strange motion from the container- looked closer and discovered a million tiny insects crawling all over the donuts that we had left overnight on the counter! yikes!).. so we had toast and eggs instead. Then we packed up and headed to Trunk Bay- the most famous of St. John's beaches. It's part of the Virgin Islands National Park. We spent all day on Trunk Bay- swimming and snorkeling.. Grace had even mastered snorkeling by the end of the day.. I swear I had applied sunscreen to parts of me.. but sadly tonight I find myself quite crispy.. We went back to 'Skinny Legs' for dinner but it was packed.. we ran into a wild donkey in the parking lot and fed her some apple and carrots and then we went to a different restaurant in Coral Bay and ate blackened Wahoo with mango salsa and risotto, calamari and coconut shrimp. I had a drink called "Drink Right Keep Left"- otherwise called a "Dirkle". Now we are back at our place and Grace is bugging Becky to play all kinds of games including Dora Bingo.. (and I think this is the first time Becky has ever been on vacation with a child before).. The nightime sounds of the frogs and insects and the wind rustling the leaves outside the window is awesome.. I don't need a 'sound machine' to fall asleep here..